| Selkie | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | Silkie | ||
| Binomen | N/A | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Pinniped-human shapeshifter | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Sapient | ||
| Aggressivity | Usually low | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | North Atlantic | ||
| Habitat | Amphibious | ||
| Diet | Omnivorous | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | Real | ||
Selkies, a.k.a. Silkies, are a race of mythical shapeshifters who can alternate between a human form and a seal form. They inhabit the seas around Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.
Traditionally, Selkies spend most of their lives in the sea among ordinary seals. When they come to land, they take out their seal skin to reveal a human appearance beneath. In order to change back they must wear their seal skin again. A common type of story typically centers on a female Selkie marrying a man who hides her seal skin to prevent her from leaving. While the Selkie wife is very dedicated to her family, she longs to return to the ocean, and will do so as soon as her seal skin is retrieved.
This race is notably featured in the traditional Scottish folk song "The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry", in the animated film Song of the Sea and in the TV series Lost Girl, among other works.